Various error detection and correction techniques exist for assisting with correct communication over a wired, an optical, and/or a wireless communication link. For example, Forward Error Correction (FEC) encodes information prior to transmission in such a way that any errors occurring during communication may be identified and corrected upon reception. Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ) retransmits information that is deemed to have been erroneously received or not received at all. ARQ may either retransmit only a portion of the information, transmit appropriate FEC information, or any combination thereof. An explicit request for retransmission may be transmitted by a receiver to the transmitter upon detecting a communication fault. However, both techniques are most effective when the quality of the link is quite predictable. Untuned FEC may result in an unnecessary waste of bandwidth, and misused ARQ may result in a delay in the data communication.
Some known methods for transmitting data over a wireless digital communication link between a transmitting station and a receiving station include the steps of transmitting a first packet using a modulation scheme; monitoring if the transmitted packet has been correctly received; and transmitting, using a lower modulation scheme, a second packet associated with the first packet if the monitoring did not indicate correct reception. However, these techniques do not utilize the communication link to its maximum capability, and/or do not maintain the order of the packets, and/or do not feature fixed latency.